Scott M. Graffius, CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, had consulting engagements with a division of a global entertainment business. A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with that client was the inspiration for Scott's book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is an update related to the book.Content from Agile Scrum (Scott M. Graffius, author; Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, technical editors) is quoted in a piece by Informa Middle East. Informa is a leading Dubai-based company offering business intelligence, academic publishing, and services in event management.

Scott M. Graffius, CSP, CSM, CSPO, PMP, ITIL, LSSGB is a project management expert, consultant, international speaker, and award-winning author. He is the CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, a professional services firm, where he partners with client companies to help them achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. The consultancy provides project, program, portfolio, and PMO management services inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid development and delivery frameworks. Business results include upgraded responsiveness to business needs, faster delivery and time-to-market, improved on-budget performance, higher customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and greater competitive advantage. Scott is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets. Additional information is available at: http://Exceptional-PMO.com/who_we_are/bio.About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps technical and non-technical teams develop and deliver products at astounding speed with rapid adaptation to change and continuous improvement—which supports innovation and drives competitive advantage. The book has garnered 17 first place awards.

Channels: The paperback is available from Amazon in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States; other online and offline bookstores and retailers; distributors including Ingram and NACSCORP; libraries and academic institutions through Baker & Taylor; and certified resellers through CreateSpace Direct wholesale. The ebook is for sale through Amazon in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States; and other channels.

Scott and his publication have been featured in Yahoo Finance, the Boston Herald, NBC WRAL, the Dallas Business Journal, the PM World Journal, BookLife by Publisher’s Weekly, Innovation Management, and additional media outlets.

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions and author of Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, will be speaking at Project World * Business Analyst World Toronto 2019. He will be presenting best practices on project management, including tools and techniques which attendees will be able to immediately apply at work. Scott's session will be held on Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Canada. You can read more about it here: http://bit.ly/AGILE-1.

About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, CSP, CSM, CSPO, PMP, ITIL, LSSGB is a project management expert, consultant, international speaker, and award-winning author. Scott is the CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, a professional services firm, where he partners with client companies to help them achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. The consultancy provides project, program, portfolio, and PMO management services inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid development and delivery frameworks. Business results include improved responsiveness to business needs, faster delivery and time-to-market, upgraded on-budget performance, higher customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and greater competitive advantage. For infographics and additional resources, visit http://Exceptional-PMO.com.

A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with a client in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott’s book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. The publication has garnered 17 first place awards. Scott and his book have been featured in Yahoo Finance, the Dallas Business Journal, BookLife by Publisher’s Weekly, Innovation Management, and additional media outlets. A trailer, high-resolution images, reviews, a detailed list of awards and more are available at https://AgileScrumGuide.com.

Scott is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets. Scott regularly speaks at conferences and other events in the United States and internationally where he delights audiences with presentations on agile, traditional, and hybrid project, program, portfolio, and PMO management. He integrates and includes professional standards, best practices, and his first-hand experience with successful implementations. Scott uses everyday language and vibrant visuals to make complex topics clear and understandable, and he provides audiences with practical information they can use. His upcoming and past appearances are listed at http://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html.Additional information is available at http://Exceptional-PMO.com/who_we_are/bio.

About Project World * Business Analyst World Toronto 2019

The conference—which appears stylized as ProjectWorld*BusinessAnalystWorld—is an educational and training event for project management and business analysis professionals. Thought leaders will arm attendees with new skills, tools, and techniques that can be immediately applied in the workplace. Over 30 expert speakers will present more than 40 interactive sessions, workshops, and keynotes. All sessions are Project Management Institute (PMI) and International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) accredited. Offering professional development units (PDUs) and continuing development units (CDUs) for each hour of learning, attendees can earn up to 26 credits over the four-day period. It will be held on May 27-30, 2019 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Canada. The official hashtag is #PWBAWTOR19. The website for the conference is here: https://www.pmbaconferences.com/toronto.

★★★★★You're invited to connect with Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ on social. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

There are many outstanding project management tools. The ability of access, contribute to, and manage data while away from the desk is important. This review took a look at related products for iOS.

The selection criteria started with a search of "project management" solutions (paid or free) on Apple's App Store. The results included 135 items. The group was then filtered for those—as of the time of this report—with 25 or more reviews and also an average rating of 4 or better out of 5 stars. That resulted in the top five tools. In alphabetical order, they are: Daily Time Tracking, DayMap, GoodTask 3, Things 3, and Trello.

Each solution—listed in alphabetical order—is highlighted next.

Daily Time Tracking• Price: $0 (offers in-app purchases)• Number of reviews: 65• Average rating (out of a maximum of 5 stars): 4.4• Short description: Helps employees and freelancers create accurate time sheets without the hassle of using timers.

DailyMap• Price: $12.99• Number of reviews: 25• Average rating (out of a maximum of 5 stars): 4.3• Short description: A new way to organize your projects and tasks by visually mapping your life, one week at a time. DayMap allows you to see your projects, tasks, and schedule in an intuitive and user friendly interface.

GoodTask 3• Price: $19.99• Number of reviews: 39• Average rating (out of a maximum of 5 stars): 4.7• Short description: GoodTask 3 is a task manager based on Apple's stock Reminders and Calendars. With rich functions added top on Apple's Reminders and Calendars, you'll reach a whole new level of productivity with GoodTask 3.Things 3• Price: $49.99• Number of reviews: 600• Average rating (out of a maximum of 5 stars): 4.6• Short description: Things is the award-winning personal task manager that helps you achieve your goals.

Trello• Price: $0 (for a basic account)• Number of reviews: 344• Average rating (out of a maximum of 5 stars): 4.3• Short description: Trello’s boards, lists, and cards enable you to organize and prioritize your projects in a fun, flexible and rewarding way.

This has been a quick review of tools for iOS. A future article will cover products for other platforms.

★★★★★You're invited to connect with Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ on social. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Scott M. Graffius regularly speaks at conferences and other events in the United States and internationally where he delights audiences with presentations on agile, traditional, and hybrid project, program, portfolio, and PMO management. He integrates and includes professional standards, best practices, and his first-hand experience with successful implementations. Scott uses everyday language and vibrant visuals to make complex topics clear and understandable, and he provides audiences with practical information they can use. This article provides an overview of his priorspeakingengagements.

Scott spoke at Techstars Startup Week, where he presented "Agile Scrum Helps Innovators, Disruptors, and Entrepreneurs Develop and Deliver Products at Astounding Speed Which Drives Competitive Advantage" to an audience of startups and others in the entrepreneurial community on October 4, 2018.

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎

Scott presented “Agile Scrum: An Overview (Originally) for The Board of Directors of an Entertainment Company” at a meeting of the PMI California Central Valley Chapter (PMI-CCVC) on September 13, 2018.

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎Scott facilitated an interactive workshop, “Retrospectives and Continuous Improvement in the Agile Scrum Framework,” at a private event in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 25, 2018.▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎Scott presented “Agile Scrum: An Overview (Originally) for The Board of Directors of an Entertainment Company” at a meeting of the PMI California Inland Empire Chapter (PMICIE) on August 14, 2018.

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎Scott presented “Agile Scrum: An Overview (Originally) for The Board of Directors of an Entertainment Company” at a meeting of the PMI California Central Coast Chapter (PMI-4C) on June 28, 2018.

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎He was a guest speaker on agile project management at an event of the Project Management Institute Los Angeles Chapter (PMI-LA) on July 25, 2017.

▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎

Scott gave an interactive talk on innovation and project management at a private meeting in London, England on February 9, 2017.

Scott M. Graffius, CSP, CSM, CSPO, PMP, ITIL, LSSGB is a project management expert, consultant, international speaker, and award-winning author. He is the CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, a professional services firm, where he partners with client companies to achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives through project management leadership. The consultancy provides project, program, portfolio, and PMO management services inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid development and delivery frameworks. Business results include upgraded responsiveness to business needs, faster delivery and time-to-market, improved on-budget performance, higher customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and greater competitive advantage. Scott is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets. Additional information is available at: http://Exceptional-PMO.com/who_we_are/bio.

A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with a client in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Graffius's book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. It helps technical and non-technical teams develop and deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement -- which supports innovation while driving competitive advantage. The book has garnered 17 first place awards. A trailer, high-resolution images, reviews, a detailed list of awards and more are available at: https://AgileScrumGuide.com.

The Book Excellence Awards features Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions's Scott M. Graffius, author of Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, in a story. The article highlights factors contributing to the book's success — including credit to Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, the technical editors on the publication. You can check out the story at https://www.bookexcellenceawards.com/scott-graffius-success-story.★★★★★You're invited to connect with Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ on social. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

This is an update from Scott M. Graffius of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™. I had the pleasure of speaking to a highly-engaged audience of startups and others in the entrepreneurial community at the Techstars Startup Week in the Inland Empire on Thursday, October 4th. My talk was on agile project management. It covered Scrum—including the roles, responsibilities, tools, and techniques unique to the framework—with a focus on best practices and top factors in typical successful implementations. Benefits such as rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement were incorporated in the talk as well.

Thank you to everyone who attended the event. Special thanks to Steve Massa and all of the conference organizers, Michael Ring for managing the control booth/ops in the theater, and Lara Phillips for the excellent photographs of the event.Here's the link to the home page for the Techstars Startup Week conference: https://ie.startupweek.co.

★★★★★You're invited to connect with Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ on social. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Scott M. Graffius of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ will serve as a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the Project Management Institute EMEA Congress 2019. The conference will be held from May 13-15 at the Convention Centre Dublin in Dublin, Ireland. For more information and to register for the event, visit https://www.pmi.org/emea-congress.

He is the CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, a management consulting firm with expertise in project management. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a global, publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with a client in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Graffius’ book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. It helps technical and non-technical teams develop and deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement—which supports innovation while driving competitive advantage. The book, which was published in 2016, has since garnered 17 first place awards. A trailer, high-resolution images, reviews, a detailed list of awards and more are available at: https://agilescrumguide.com.

Graffius holds six professional certifications: Certified Scrum Professional (CSP), Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Project Management Professional (PMP), Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and IT Service Management (ITIL). He is a member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the IEEE Computer Society, the IEEE Consumer Electronics Society, the IEEE Internet of Things Community, and the IEEE Consultants Network.

He has also been actively involved in the development of professional global standards. Graffius was a member of Project Management Institute (PMI) standards team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Scott was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, a contributor and reviewer of The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI Global Congress 2016, and a judge for the PMI 2015 Professional Education Provider of the Year Award. He is currently engaged as a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI EMEA Congress 2019.

Graffius presents thought leadership on project, program, portfolio, and PMO management related topics of timely importance. He regularly speaks at private and public events in the United States and internationally.

The Project Management Institute (https://www.pmi.org) is the world's leading association for those who consider project, program or portfolio management their profession. Founded in 1969, PMI delivers value for more than three million professionals working in nearly every country in the world through global advocacy, collaboration, education and research. The PMI advances careers, improves organizational success and further matures the project management profession through globally-recognized standards, certifications, communities, resources, tools, academic research, publications, professional development courses and networking opportunities.

About the PMI EMEA Congress 2019

The PMI is passionate about helping its members to bring about positive change. PMI EMEA Congress 2019 (https://www.pmi.org/emea-congress) will give attendees the concepts, skills and behaviours needed to make a difference. Over three days, attendees will hear innovative keynotes and cutting-edge global perspectives on fast-moving project management profession. Attendees will leave with skills they can apply straightaway to solve your challenges and develop their careers. The conference will be held from May 13-15 at the Convention Centre Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.

About Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™

Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ (http://exceptional-pmo.com) helps organizations achieve their strategic objectives and business initiatives via world-class project management. The professional services firm provides expert advisory, training, and facilitative consulting services related to project, program, portfolio, and PMO management in agile, traditional/waterfall, and hybrid development and delivery frameworks. ★★★★★You're invited to connect with Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ on social. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

This is an update from Scott M. Graffius, Founder and CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™.I had the honor of speaking on agile project management at a dinner meeting of the Project Management Institute - California Central Valley Chapter (PMI-CCVC) in Bakersfield last night. The presentation provided a highly visual overview of Scrum — including the roles, responsibilities, tools, and techniques unique to the framework — with a focus on best practices and top factors typical in successful implementations.

Thank you to Fred Valenzano for the invitation and thank you to all of the PMI-CCVC members who attended the session. I enjoyed meeting and talking with everyone.

The feedback was fantastic. For those not at the event: an example of a sticky note used to collect comments at the end of the meeting is shown (the example is a blank one — not filled out — for privacy). It's excellent to know "What Went Well?" Potential improvements, however, typically come from the other question: "What Would You Change?" (Additionally, attendees can provide feedback via an online survey.) All of the feedback is important, appreciated, and valued.

#PMICCVC #agile #projectmanagement

★★★★★You're invited to connect with Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ on social. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Scott M. Graffius, Founder and CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, will be speaking at Techstars Startup Week. He will be presenting "Agile Scrum Helps Innovators, Disruptors, and Entrepreneurs Develop and Deliver Products at Astounding Speed Which Drives Competitive Advantage." The talk will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 4, 2018, at The Box Riverside (also known as The Box Theater) in Riverside, CA. For more information and to register for the event, please visit https://ie.startupweek.co.

Techstars Startup Week provides presentations, workshops, events, and mentoring sessions designed to inspire, educate, and advance startups and others in the local entrepreneurial community.

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, had consulting engagements with a division of a global entertainment business. A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with that client was the inspiration for Scott's book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is an update on the book.

Agile Scrum won the silver medal in the Business/Finance category at the 2018 Readers' Favorite International Book Awards. A press release from Scott is located hereand the news is presented below as well.Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions by Scott M. Graffius helps technical and non-technical teams develop and deliver products at astounding speed with rapid adaptation to change and continuous improvement which supports innovation and drives competitive advantage. Reactions to the book have been incredibly positive. The latest accolade comes from the 2018 Readers' Favorite International Book Awards (https://readersfavorite.com/2018-award-contest-winners.htm), which awarded Agile Scrum with the silver medal in the Business/Finance category. With thousands of entries ranging from New York Times bestsellers to works from first-time self-published authors, the program is one of the largest book competitions. Graffius will be presented with the silver medal on stage at a gala in Miami, Florida on Saturday, November 17, 2018.

About the Author

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP, CSM, CSPO, ITIL, LSSGB is a project management expert, consultant, author, and international speaker. He is the Founder and CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, a management consulting firm. Scott is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. For more information on Scott, visit http://Exceptional-PMO.com/who_we_are/bio.

Channels: The paperback is available from Amazon in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States; other online and offline bookstores and retailers; distributors including Ingram and NACSCORP; libraries and academic institutions through Baker & Taylor; and certified resellers through CreateSpace Direct wholesale. The ebook is for sale through Amazon in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States; and other channels.

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, will present “Agile Scrum: An Overview (Originally) for The Board of Directors of an Entertainment Company” at a public meeting of the Project Management Institute California Central Valley Chapter (PMI-CCVC) on September 13, 2018. His talk provides a vibrant and highly visual overview of Scrum, the most popular agile framework for the development and delivery of products and services. For more information and to register for the event, visit here.★★★★★

You're invited to connect with Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ on social. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

This is an update from Scott M. Graffius, CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™.I had the pleasure of speaking on agile project management at a public event of the Project Management Institute California Inland Empire Chapter (PMICIE) on August 14th. My talk was titled "Agile Scrum: An Overview (Originally) for The Board of Directors of an Entertainment Company." It covered Scrum —including the roles, responsibilities, tools, and techniques unique to the framework —with a focus on best practices and top factors in typical successful implementations.

Thank you to William Parris, PMICIE President, and Stacey Wong, PMICIE Vice President of Programs, for the invitation and thank you to everyone who attended the session. I enjoyed meeting and talking with everyone.

★★★★★

You're invited to connect with Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ on social. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Scott M. Graffius of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™will deliver a talk—“Agile Scrum: An Overview (Originally) for The Board of Directors of an Entertainment Company”—at a public meeting of the Project Management Institute California Inland Empire (PMICIE) Chapter on August 14, 2018. For more information, and to register for the event, visit here.

★★★★★

You're invited to connect with Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ on social. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

This is an update from Scott M. Graffius of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ on speaking engagements.

I'm pleased to present thought leadership on project, program, portfolio, and PMO management related topics of timely importance. I've delivered talks at private and public events in the United States and internationally. Examples of upcoming and past events follow.

Scheduled to present “Agile Scrum: An Overview (Originally) for The Board of Directors of an Entertainment Company” at a public event of the Project Management Institute California Inland Empire Chapter (PMICIE) on August 14, 2018.

Delivered a talk—“Agile Scrum: An Overview (Originally) for The Board of Directors of an Entertainment Company”—at a public event of the Project Management Institute California Central Coast Chapter (PMI-4C) on June 28, 2018.

Spoke on agile project management at a public event of the Project Management Institute Los Angeles Chapter (PMI-LA) on July 25, 2017.

Delivered a talkon innovation and project management at a private event in London, England on February 9, 2017.

Online bonus material—containing an ever-growing list of supplemental content that comes free with the purchase of Agile Scrum—was updated today. Contents include satisfaction survey examples, quizzes, tools, select resources, and more. Instructions on how to access the online bonus material are provided inside the publication (both the ebook and the paperback format of the book).

This is an update from Scott M. Graffius of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™.Thank you, Project Management Institute California Central Coast Chapter (PMI-4C), for inviting me to speak at your June 28 meetingon “Agile Scrum: An Overview (Originally) for The Board of Directors of an Entertainment Company.” The turnout was fantastic, and it was a pleasure and honor to speak with such an engaging audience.

Special thanks to Chris Hare and Colin Giffen — the technical editors on the award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — for their involvement and participation.

Thanks to PMI-4C's Michael Peter and Robert Tucker for organizing and managing the event.

★★★★★

You're invited to connect with Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ on social. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Scott M. Graffius of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ will deliver a talk—“Agile Scrum: An Overview (Originally) for The Board of Directors of an Entertainment Company”—at a public meeting of the Project Management Institute California Central Coast Chapter (PMI-4C) on June 28, 2018. For more information, and to register for the event, visit here.

★★★★★

You're invited to connect with Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ on social. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Scott M. Graffius of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ had consulting engagements with a division of a global entertainment business. A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with that client was the inspiration for Scott's book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is an update on the book.

Agile Scrum won first place in the Business category at the 2018 International Pacific Book Awards. A press release from Scott M. Graffius, the author of the book, is located here. Additionally, the text from the release is presented below.

★★★★★Los Angeles, CA — Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (Scott M. Graffius, author; Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, technical editors) won first place in the Business category of the 2018 International Pacific Book Awards. The annual program is sponsored by Pacific Book Review—a literary review outlet, and a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the National Education Association. The competition was open to English-language books in print, e-book, and audiobook formats worldwide. The judging panel included professionals with expertise in the categories over which they presided, as well as experts from the fields of editing, reviewing, and publishing. Books were evaluated on innovation, originality, and readability. Results will be announced to booksellers, publishers, public and academic librarians, wholesalers, distributors, and agents through the sponsor's site, Publishers Weekly, and additional outlets.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices engage sequential development, while agile models involve iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to best meet their business needs—and successfully manage projects, innovate, and prosper at astounding speed.

Scott released Agile Scrum to provide those interested or involved in innovation, product development, project management, software development or technology management with a roadmap to implement Scrum, the most popular agile framework. It helps technical and non-technical teams deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement—which supports innovation and drives competitive advantage.

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP, CSM, CSPO, ITIL, LSSGB is a project management expert, consultant, international speaker, and author. He founded and is CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, an Inc. Verified Business, which helps organizations better solve their problems and capitalize on opportunities via world-class project management related services. Results include more consistent realization of business outcomes, faster delivery speed, improved on-budget performance, higher satisfaction, and more. A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with a client in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott's book, Agile Scrum. He is a former vice president of a provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet including social networking and internet access. Before that, Scott worked in organizations with businesses ranging from advanced technology products and services to business services, retail, e-commerce, manufacturing, and entertainment. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets, as well as experience spanning 20 countries.

About the Book

Agile Scrum is offered in paperback and ebook formats at Amazon. The paperback is available in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The ebook is for sale in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Specs are detailed at AgileScrumGuide.com.

Review copies of Agile Scrum are available to members of broadcast, print or online media. Visit bit.ly/REVIEW-COPY.

Take a look at the results at the end of a sprint on a Scrum project. There are two scenarios. Both have the same user stories with the same story points for each:

User story 1: 13 story points

User story 2: 8 story points

User story 3: 3 story points

User story 4: 5 story points

User story 5: 1 story point

User story 6: 3 story points

User story 7: 1 story point

Scenario A

Here are some details on A:

User story 1: 70 hours of work performed, 5 hours of work remaining

User story 2: 51 hours of work performed, no work remaining (and it meets the Definition of Done [DoD])

User story 3: 45 hours of work performed, 13 hours of work remaining

User story 4: 29 hours of work performed, no work remaining (and it meets the DoD)

User story 5: 3 hours of work performed, 2 hours of work remaining

User story 6: 30 hours of work performed, 17 hours of work remaining

User story 7: 4 hours of work performed, 1 hour of work remaining

A is summarized as:

232 hours of work was performed, and 38 hours of work remains

2 user stories were done, and 5 user stories were not completed

Scenario BHere are some details on B:

User story 1: 75 hours of work performed, no work remaining (and it meets the DoD)

User story 2: 51 hours of work performed, no work remaining (and it meets the DoD)

User story 3: 58 hours of work performed, no work remaining (and it meets the DoD)

User story 4: 29 hours of work performed, no work remaining (and it meets the DoD)

User story 5: 5 hours of work performed, no work remaining (and it meets the DoD)

User story 6: 14 hours of work performed, 33 hours of work remaining

User story 5: no work performed, and five hours of work remaining

B is summarized as:

232 hours of work was performed, and 38 hours of work remains

5 user stories were done, and 2 user stories were not completed

What CountsScrum requires teams to build an increment of functionality during every sprint. Only work meeting the Definition of Done (DoD) is counted as complete, demonstrated at the sprint review meeting, and is potentially shippable.

There were two scenarios. Both had the same user stories with the same story points for each, and the same amount of work hours performed. Yet the outcomes were dramatically different. In A, 2 user stories were done--and are to be demonstrated at the sprint review meeting, and are potentially shippable. In B, 5 user stories were done--and are to be demonstrated at the sprint review meeting, and are potentially shippable. B is the better scenario.

A possible explanation for the differences between the two situations is that the Scrum team in B may have done a better job of limiting Work in Progress.

To learn more about agile/Scrum, check out the award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. You're invited to visit the digital press kit, watch the trailer, and pick up a copy of the publication—it’s available in paperback and ebook—at Amazon. ★★★★★

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Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive. Traditional development and delivery frameworks are often ineffective. In contrast, Scrum is a value-driven agile approach which incorporates adjustments based on regular and repeated customer and stakeholder feedback. And Scrum's built-in rapid response to change leads to substantial benefits such as fast time-to-market, higher satisfaction, and continuous improvement—which supports innovation and drives competitive advantage.

Agile and Scrum were once the sole domain of software development. However, the benefits and results have not gone unnoticed by others. Practices are being adopted by additional departments and industries. Examples follow.

The State of Scrum Report(1) revealed that 21% of Scrum projects are run by departments outside of Technology such as Marketing, Finance, and Sales.

An article published in The New York Times(2) noted agile's use in diverse industries—with examples ranging from a museum in Sydney, Australia, to an automobile dealership in Maine.

A business brief(3) illustrated how varied businesses—including John Deere, NPR, and Mission Bell Winery—employed agile.

In summary, agile and Scrum are used broadly. For more information on agile/Scrum, pick up a copy of the award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. For more information on the publication, and to connect:

Scott M. Graffius of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ had consulting engagements with a division of a global entertainment business. A fantastic agile transformation experience with that client was the inspiration for his book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is an update on the book.

On March 16, Literary Titan published their review of Agile Scrum—“The book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully”—and they gave it five stars. On April 6, the program honored Agile Scrum with their Gold Award.

Scott M. Graffius of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ had consulting engagements with a division of a global entertainment business. A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with that client was the inspiration for his book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is an update on the book.

Los Angeles, CA — Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (Scott M. Graffius, author; Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, technical editors) was named one of the Notable 100 independently published books. The awards program is sponsored by Shelf Unbound, an international review magazine which connects readers with the best books from independent publishers. The contest was open to English-language works in digital and print formats from small press, academic press, and self-published authors. Editors of Shelf Unbound judged the entries, and the top hundred books are included in the Notable 100. The news is featured on page 90 of the April/May issue of Shelf Unbound magazine.

There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices engage sequential development, while agile models involve iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to best meet their business needs—and successfully manage projects, innovate, and prosper at astounding speed.

Scott released Agile Scrum to provide those interested or involved in innovation, product development, project management, software development or technology management with a roadmap to implement Scrum, the most popular agile framework. It helps teams develop and deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement—which supports innovation and drives competitive advantage.

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP, CSM, CSPO, ITIL, LSSGB is a project management expert, consultant, international speaker, and author. He founded and is CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, an Inc. Verified Business, which helps organizations better solve their problems and capitalize on opportunities via world-class project management related services. Results include more consistent realization of business outcomes, faster delivery speed, improved on-budget performance, higher satisfaction, and more. A fantastic agile transformation experience and result with a client in the entertainment industry was the inspiration for Scott's book, Agile Scrum. He is a former vice president of a provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet including social networking and internet access. Before that, Scott worked in organizations with businesses ranging from advanced technology products and services to business services, retail, e-commerce, manufacturing, and entertainment. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets, as well as experience spanning 20 countries.

About the Book

Agile Scrum is offered in paperback (ISBN-13: 978-1533370242, $19.95 USD) and ebook (ASIN: B01FZ0JIIY, $4.95 USD) formats at Amazon. The paperback is available in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The ebook is for sale in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Scott M. Graffius of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ had consulting engagements with a division of a global entertainment business. A fantastic agile transformation experience with that client was the inspiration for his book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is an update on the book.

On March 16, Literary Titan published their review of Agile Scrum—“The book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully”—and they gave it five stars.

Literary Titan periodically provides additional recognition for select works. Today, the program honored Agile Scrum with their Gold Award. Thank you to Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, the technical editors on the book. Thank you to Literary Titan for the award.

A press release from Scott M. Graffius, the author of the book, is located here.

★★★★★

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Scott M. Graffius of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ had consulting engagements with a division of a global entertainment business. A fantastic agile transformation experience with that client was the inspiration for the book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. This is an update on the book.

Agile Scrum took first place in the Technology category of the New Apple Awards last year. I'm grateful for the honor, and I'm thrilled that the program continues to feature the book. Today, New Apple published a new press release about the book—"Technology Guide 'Agile Scrum' Wins Medalist Honors in New Apple Independent Book Awards." You can see the story here: https://www.pr.com/press-release/749081

Thank you to Chris Hare and Colin Giffen—the technical editors—for helping to make the book more clear, consistent, and valuable.

★★★★★

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Eight infographics—on project, program, portfolio, and PMO management inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid frameworks—have been published in this blog to date. This article is a recap of the resources with links to the respective posts—where they can be downloaded. Here's the list, in alphabetical order:

There's a widely-held view that agile development is new. But agile was used decades before it became well-known. For example, software was developed in half-day iterations in 1958 for Project Mercury, the United States' first human spaceflight program. And Harlan Mills of IBM promoted in 1968 that "software development should be done incrementally, in stages with continuous user participation and replanning." While agile is not new, many innovators and visionaries have advanced agile over time. Agile Has a Long and Colorful Heritage: A Timeline Infographic from Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ illustrates via specific examples how agile has progressively evolved since (at least) 1957.

Teams go through stages of development, and Bruce Tuckman established a popular framework on the subject. According to Tuckman, all phases—Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning—are necessary for the team to grow, tackle problems, find solutions, plan work, and deliver results. This article provides a brief overview of the model, including descriptions and strategies for each phase.

1. Forming

Characteristics of Forming include questioning, socializing, displaying eagerness, focusing on group identity and purpose, and sticking to safe topics. Strategies for this phase include taking the 'lead,' providing clear expectations and consistent instructions, and quick response times.

2. Storming

Traits of Storming include resistance, lack of participation, conflict, competition, high emotions, and moving towards group norms. Strategies for this stage include normalizing matters and encouraging leadership.

3. Norming

Features of Norming include reconciliation, relief, lowered anxiety, members are engaged and supportive, and developing cohesion. Strategies for this phase include recognizing individual and group efforts, providing learning opportunities and feedback, and monitoring the 'energy' of the group.

4. Performing

Characteristics of Performing include demonstrations of interdependence, healthy system, ability to effectively produce as a team, and balance of task and process orientation. Strategies for this stage include celebrating, 'guide from the side' (minimal intervention), encouraging group decision-making and problem-solving, and providing opportunities to share learning across teams.

5. Adjourning

Traits of Adjourning include a shift to process orientation, sadness, and recognition of team and individual efforts. Strategies for this phase include recognizing change, providing an opportunity for summative team evaluations, and providing an opportunity for acknowledgments.

The accompanying illustration summarizes the above information—and it shows how performance fluctuates as teams move through each phase. This information may be helpful for looking at your team.

A high resolution version of the Phases of Team Development image is available here.

★★★★★

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The Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) provides professional development resources and events for textbook authors and authors of scholarly journal articles and books. Established in 1987, TAA is the only national, nonprofit membership association dedicated solely to assisting textbook and academic authors. TAA's name was changed from "Text and Academic Authors Association" to "Textbook & Academic Authors Association" in 2016 to offer a clearer identity for TAA in light of the new meaning of "texting" on smart devices today.

TAA created the Textbook Excellence Award—also known as the Texty—in 1992 to recognize current textbooks and learning materials. Nominated works must carry a copyright date for the previous or current year, and entries can include learning materials in all mediums. Textbooks in their first editions with publication dates in the previous or current year may compete for a Most Promising New Textbook Award. In 1993, TAA initiated the William Holmes McGuffey Longevity Award, to recognize textbooks and learning materials whose excellence has been demonstrated over time. Nominated works must have been in print 15 years and are still being sold. All works are ranked on certain criteria: interesting and informative, well organized and well prepared, up to date and appealing, and teachability.

TAA's annual conference will be held on June 15-16 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Awards will be presented at a ceremony during the meeting.

Scott M. Graffius, CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™, an Inc. Verified Business, received the Certified Scrum Professional® (CSP®) advanced designation from the Scrum Alliance®. It's based on having fulfilled 70 or more hours of approved education/training, already holding recognized Scrum credential(s) (CSM® and CSPO® in his case), and documented successful professional experience with agile/Scrum in the last five years (consulting engagements with a fantastic client in the entertainment business—the inspiration for his book—contributed towards it).

Scrum requires teams to build an increment of functionality during every sprint, and the increment must be potentially shippable because the Product Owner might decide to release it at the end of the sprint.

The product increment is the sum of all backlog items completed during the current sprint

Potentially shippable is defined by a state of confidence or readiness

Shipping is a business decision: shipping may or may not occur at the end of the sprint (new functionality may be accumulated via multiple sprints before being shipped)

Minimum Viable Product ApproachThe product increment may or may not be marketable. However, a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) approach is sometimes used to help test marketable ideas. MVP is a product release strategy which can be used in Scrum (or another framework). The term was created by Frank Robinson, and popularized by Steve Blank and Eric Ries.

"The MVP has just those features considered sufficient for it to be of value to customers, and allow for it to be shipped or sold to early adopters. Customer feedback will inform future development of the product."

Here are a few examples of then-startups use of an MVP:

Facebook: The first product (originally called Thefacebook) tested traction of students connecting with their college/class and posting messages. Other features—built on the initial success—came later.

Groupon: It launched with a WordPress site and PDFs emailed to early subscribers. The test proved successful, and the company subsequently built its voucher system and backend.

Spotify: The initial product was simple desktop app, tested in a closed beta. The MVP proved to be of interest to consumers, and more features followed.

★★★★★

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Scott M. Graffius of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ had consulting engagements with a division of a global entertainment business. A fantastic agile transformation experience with that client was the inspiration for the book, Agile Scrum. This is an update on the book.

Agile Scrum by technology leader, project management expert, consultant, international speaker and author Scott M. Graffius won first place in Business at the 2018 Florida Book Festival. This is the sixteenth first place award for the book.

The competition was open to works from small, medium, large (including the Big Five), and independent presses as well as self-published authors. Judging was conducted by a panel of industry professionals, and placements were determined based on overall excellence. Winners will be honored at a gala on Saturday, February 24 in Orlando, Florida. Graffius is scheduled to attend and speak at the ceremony.

Agile Scrum is available in paperback ($19.95 US) and ebook ($4.95 US) formats at Amazon. For additional information on the book, visit AgileScrumGuide.com.

★★★★★

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Scrum is the most popular agile project development and delivery framework. In Scrum, the product release backlog (sometimes referred to as the product backlog) is a list of features, user stories, bugs to be fixed, and/or other requirements. The Product Owner is the ultimate holder of the backlog. The Product Owner prioritizes items, and different methods can be employed to help accomplish that work. This brief article focuses on the technique of factoring business value and risk.

Each item in the product release backlog would be rated as either high or low in two dimensions: business value and risk. It is suggested that high business value, high-risk items are worked on first. While that may seem counterintuitive, the earlier this work is done, the sooner the team will move to mitigate the issues and unknowns—leading to a higher quality product. If there's a failure, it will occur early and relatively inexpensively.

An ordering of priorities is illustrated above, and it follows:

1. High business value, high risk.2. High business value, low risk.3. Low business value, low risk. 4. Low business value, high risk.

Alternatively, other prioritization methods—such as the MoSCoW ranking model— may be used. MoSCoW will be highlighted in a subsequent article.

This content is an abridged excerpt from the award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, available in paperback and ebook formats at Amazon. For additional information on the book, visit AgileScrumGuide.com.

★★★★★

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There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most methodologies fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to best meet their business needs and effectively manage projects.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Agile Scrum helps the reader:

• Implement and use the most popular agile framework—Scrum• Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement• Support innovation and drive competitive advantage

This guide is for those interested or involved in innovation, project management, product development, software development or technology management.

• It's for those who have not yet used Scrum• It's also for people already using Scrum, in roles such as Product Owners, Scrum Masters, Development Team members (business analysts, solution and system architects, designers, developers, testers, etc.), customers, end users, agile coaches, executives, managers, and other stakeholders

For those already using Scrum, the book can serve as a reference on practices for consideration and potential adaptation.

Reactions to the book have been incredibly positive. Honors to date include 15 first place awards in national and international competitions.

First Place Winner, Business-General Category, 5th Annual Beverly Hills International Book Awards

First Place Winner, Technology Category, 5th Annual Beverly Hills International Book Awards

First Place Winner, Business Category, 2016 London Book Festival

First Place Winner, Business Category, Fall 2016 Pinnacle Book Achievement Awards

Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™has Planning Cards as a tool to help agile teams estimate work. Excerpts of the information and instructions—which are included with each deck of the cards—follow. This article is for those interested in getting an overview.

About These Planning Cards

These cards are used to help estimate work

Each deck contains four sets of cards—enough for four estimators

Each of the four sets has a unique color on the front side of cards—it’s in either blue, green, orange, or yellow

Cards are based on the Fibonacci sequence, where every number after the first two is the sum of the two preceding numbers

Each set includes cards with the following values: 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, and "?"

Each deck comes in a storage case

Purpose

These cards and instructions support the most popular approach to estimating work in Scrum projects—estimating the complexity of work via story points.

The Development Team—which may be comprised of business analysts, coders, testers, etc.—collaboratively estimates each item in the product backlog in story points. Story points are a relative measure of complexity.

Participants

Product Owner

Development Team

Scrum Master (facilitator/observer)

Frequency

Once or twice per sprint

Time-box

One hour for each week of the sprint

It’s a common practice to limit each meeting to one hour and have multiple meetings as appropriate

Prerequisites/Inputs

Product backlog containing user stories, bugs, and other requirements

One set of planning cards for each member of the Development Team

Suggested Steps

1. If each member of the Development Team does not already have their own set of planning cards, the Scrum Master provides materials as needed

2. The Product Owner describes an item (a user story, bug, or other requirement) from the product backlog and mentions its intent and business value

3. Each member of the Development Team silently picks a card best representing their assessment of the complexity of the work and places the card face-down

4. After all of the Development Team members have made their selections, the cards are turned face-up, and the values are read aloud

5. If all of the selections have the same value, the Product Owner records it as the estimate, and that completes the exercise for the item; otherwise, proceed to the next step

6. Team member(s) who gave an outlier value —such as someone who gave a high value and/or someone who gave a low value—explain their reasoning

7. After a brief discussion, the team may take the most common value (the mode average) as the estimate or they may play another round of this planning game (steps 3-7)

8. Steps 2-7 are repeated until each item in the product backlog has been estimated

9. The Product Owner updates the product backlog with the estimate valuesOptions

Some organizations use a subset of the cards and slice product backlog items when the estimate is "too large." Here's an example:

Development Team uses cards with the following values: 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, and 21

Predetermined that 21 is "too large"

If a product backlog item is estimated at 21, it is sliced into two or more parts in collaboration with the Product Owner, and the resulting smaller items are estimated by the Development Team

★★★★★This article provided a quick overview of an aspect of estimation in agile projects. Further details—including more information on the Fibonacci sequence, and additional options—are provided in the book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. Agile Scrum is available in paperback and ebook formats at Amazon. For additional information, visit AgileScrumGuide.com.

★★★★★

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